Posts from — November 2008

We’ve picked out and purchased most of the items that we’ll be needing to renovate the bathroom, which is making this whole thing a lot more real to me. I’m getting excited!

We found the sink faucet and the new bathtub at Home Depot for very fair prices ($89 and $329 respectively), and pretty much all the rest of the brand new items will be coming from Lowe’s. This is a relief, since Lowe’s is 5 miles away and Home Depot is 30 miles away. I was adamant that we use white hex tiles on the floor, which will definitely make up for the vintage qualities that will be lost by getting rid of the art deco tub that’s in there now. We went with a pedestal sink because the room is so small, and we’ll be going with white subway tile that’ll go 4′ up the walls and 6′ up for the tub/shower surround, probably with a black pinstripe around or close to the edge. Yay, hot black and white bathroom!

We also found a fabulous antique Montgomery Ward icebox at Artifacts a few weeks ago, and it’s just the right depth to use in the room to store toiletries and towels. We’ll have to repaint it white and clean out the inside, but it’s going to look dynamite. We also picked up a brand new mirrored medicine cabinet at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore for $20. We’re lucky that we’re coming in so under-budget, so we’ll be prepared in case any big, unforeseen expenses come up.

I know I’m not supposed to be thinking about the new kitchen yet. I KNOW I’m not. I just can’t help it. I’ve got so many ideas floating around in my brain about everything that some off-limits things are going to sneak in.

The kitchen in the house was “remodeled” less than 10 years ago, which means it’s new enough that it simply cannot be a priority compared to all of the other glaring issues. I put remodeled in quotes because: 1. it was never finished; and 2. it is entirely NOT my cup of tea. We’re talking forest green laminate countertops, medium oak cabinets, flowery wallpaper, missing trim, and shiny gold hardware. In other words, eww.

As far as cabinets go, I’m dreaming of the standard white metal of most 1950s kitchens, with interesting chrome chevron or lip hardware on the doors/drawers. Something like these:

Our kitchen colors are black and white, so a checkerboard tile floor will work nicely, and can easily be done ourselves. Wallpaper comes down, of course. The big ticket item in this room is going to be the countertops, and I think I’ve narrowed it down to two options, both of which come in black: soapstone and silestone.

This is the silestone, which is made of quartz (a plus, since I love quartz and am a rockhound). This photo is in black and white, so it doesn’t showcase the actual awesome highlight of this particular material (Silestone in “stellar night”): those white specks are actually sparkly metal flake, like on a car. Glorious! Kevin spotted it at Lowe’s and was drawn to it immediately. It’s man made, ultra-hygenic, doesn’t need to be sealed, and is very resistant to heat and stains. Unfortunately, it’d cost about $90 a square foot to be installed, and we can’t do it ourselves.

The other option I’m looking at is soapstone. This is the flat black counters that they use in science labs, which makes me a little giddy with nerdy glee. I love that this material was actually used by early New England settlers for their countertops. It basically has all of the same pros as silestone, except it more resistant to heat. However, it does need to be rubbed down with mineral oil regularly to keep it looking awesome. I can handle that. Also, we can install it ourselves! That’s a big pro, because if we can skip paying for labor, that’ll cut the budget down by quite a bit. The DIY slabs run about $45 a square foot, just about half of the cost of the sparkly Silestone.